Car-loader.



Paume y may I3, |902.

E. H. REYNOLDS.

. CAR LOADER.

(Application filed Apr. 10, 1901.)

v 2 Sheets-Sheet ik (llo Model.) v

ya* f UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EARL II. REYNOLDS, OF STERLING, ILLINOIS.

CAR-LOADER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 700,152, dated May 13, 1902.

Application led April 10, 1901.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EARL H. REYNOLDS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Sterling, in the county of Whiteside and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Loaders, of which the following is a specification; I

My present invent-ion relates to improvements in car-loaders which are adapted for loading grain, sand, coal, and other commodities of alike nature into cars, vessels, or any other storage-places.

The primary object of my invention is to provide for supporting the distributing de- .vice of the loader in such a way that it can be adj usted laterally within the car and provide for distributing grain or other material properly therein and also to avoid in any way striking or interfering with 'the car-body while being arranged in or withdrawn from the car.

Another object of the invention is to provide a swinging support for the distributing device which can be secured onthe side of a building and arranged to swing into the car-door, said support being extendible, so as to provide for adjusting the distributing device within the car and enable it to be swung through the door thereof. Y

My invention also has certain other objects in view, which will be fully described hereinafter in connection with the detailed description of the devices illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a top plan view showing my improved car-loader secured on the side of a building and projecting into operative position in the car, the car and building beingin horizontal section. Fig. 2 is a side elevation as illustrated in Fig. 1, the car and building being in vertical section. Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig.1 and illustrating a modified form of support for the distributing device.`

4 is a side elevation of the invention as illustrated in Fig. 3 and showing the car and building in vertical section.

In the drawingssimilarletters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all ofthe vfigures, and referring thereto A designates the body of the car,rB the wall of the building, which is -anrelevator in which the grain is stored, and C a flexible spout leading from the elevator and discharginginto the distributing Serial No. ,232. (No model.)

device of the loader. The distributing device Amay be constructed in any desired manner adapted to throw the grain to the ends of the `5 5 car, and therefore I may employ a single-cylinder distributer (shown in my Letters Patrent 614,891, granted November 28, 1898) or the double-cylinder distributer described in lmy application for Letters Patent, Serial No. 55,231, led April 10, 1901. In the drawings of this application I have shown the doublelcylinder distributer, for the reason that the loading of the car can be accomplished faster with two cylinders than with one, and as l make no special claim for the distributer per se in this application it will be unnecessary to enter into a double description thereof. -'.lhetwo cylinders of the distributing device may be fed simultaneously from the same feed-spout iitting in the crotch between the casings D and discharging therein through peripheral openings, or the spout may be bifurcated, as shown in Fig. 3, and arranged to discharge independentlyT into the cylinder.

The distributing device is separated by a supplemental frame N, which is adjustable on and supported by the main frame P, the main frame being pivotally mounted upon a driving-shaft Q, bearing in suitable brackets R, secured to the wall of the elevator. The frames N and P are of substantially rectangular form, and the supplemental frame N is constructed and arranged to slide in themain frame P in any suitable manner. To accomplish this adjustment, the sides of the main frame are preferably made of channel-iron to form guideways for blocks carried on the;` inner ends of the sides of the supplemental frame. This is a detail of construction which can be varied in many ways without departing from my invention-as, for instance, the sides of the main and supplemental frames could be made to telescope one within the other and the same result accomplishede-and I have therefore not considered it necessary to show and describe the particular connection between the main and supplemental frames. l

The distributing device is driven by means of the parallel shafts F F leadingto the cylinders, and these shafts telescope in the hol- IOO ing-shaft Q By providing the telescopic driving-shafts I avoid the necessity for a coupling connection therein, and when the supplemental frame is adjusted in the main frame the shafts F will telescope in the shafts T accordingly.

It will therefore be seen that the car-loader as shown and described is exceedingly simple in its construction, and particularly easy to operate, being free from couplings of every nature, so that it can be thrown into operative position in a car or withdrawn therefrom quickly and with a minimum loss of time. I employ a rope W, which is attached to the end of the supplemental frame or to the main frame for hoisting the loader into a vertical position adjacent to the side of the building, as shown in broken lines in Fig. 2, where it is out of the way of the ears and in position to be lowered into the door of another car at any time and properly extended therein.

Itis of the greatest importance that the car-,loader shall be constructed and arranged to operate so that it can be projected into a car in operative position and withdrawn therefrom with the greatest expedition, and it is also desirable that the support for the distributing device of the loader shall be free of any parts or couplings which must be attended to whenever theloader is arranged in a car, so as to avoid any loss of time.

My improved loader herein described can be lowered into its position with the main frame resting upon the half-door of a car or other support and the supplemental frame run out so as to bring the distributing device into the middle of the carin a very short time, and by reason of the fact that the supplemental frame has aslidingconnection with the main frame the loader can be used when the car is located very close to the elevator, as is generally the case, Without striking in its operation the top of the car. At the same time this sliding connection enables the distributing device to be adjusted in the car at any desired position, so as to provide for distributing the grain therein. This feature of my invention may be more especially useful when the grain or other material is loaded into some other storage-receptacle than a car.; but it will be understood that although I refer particularly in this description to the use of my improved apparatus for loading grain from an elevator into a railway-car I do not in any way thereby limit myself to this particular application,but have simply employed it as being a convenient and familiar use of the invention.

Vhile I prefer to provide a swinging support for the distributing device capable of being projected and retracted substantially telescopically,ashereinbeforedescribed,prac tically the same result may be accomplished by the apparatus illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4, in which I employ a single frame V, which is of such length that it can be slid bodily, so as to bring the distributing device into the car or withdraw the same therefrom and into the elevator-building. The forward end of this frame Vsupports the distributing device and corresponds with the supplemental frame N, while the rear end of the frame V supports the drive-shaft Q and the gearingr and has its sides extended back and guided between rollers v, mounted in standard L. The forward part of the frame V is provided with rack-bars G on the inner face of its sides, these rack-bars meshing with the pinions on a crank-shaft I-I, journaled in bearings on the standard 71,. The frame Vis therefore adapted to slide between the rollers c and the openings g and beneath the guiderollers 7L.

It will be observed that by the construction shown in Figs. 3 and 4 I am able to provide a lateral adjustment for the distributing device in a manner substantially similar to that accomplished with the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2; but instead of having the main frame pivoted the whole frame V is adapted to slide in a horizontal direction. In respect to the distributing device and the driving mechanism the construction may be precisely the same as that hereinbefore described, the only essential distinction between this modication of my present invention and the preferred form being that the preferred form of apparatus consists of a main trame pivotally supported on the side Wall ot the elevator-buildin g and provided with a sliding supplemental frame carrying the distributing device, while the modified construction combines the main and supplemental frames in one frame and provides a sliding movement therefor. In both constructions it will be noted that I avoid the use of any parts requiring connection and disconnection when the distributiu g device is arranged in or withdrawn from the car, and also that the distributing device may be projected into the car without striking the body thereof and adjusted to any desired position thereon. The main shaft Q may be driven in any suitable manner by a belt "q, operating on the belt-Wheel q', and this shaft is provided with bevel-gears which mesh with bevel-gears on the ends of shafts T.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a car-loader, the combination with a driving shaft, of a main frame pivotally mounted on said driving-shaft to swing in a vertical plane, a supplemental frame slidably supported on said main frame, a horizontallydisposed rotary distributing device carried by said supplemental frame and a telescopic shaft geared to the driving-shaft and operating the distributing device, substantially as described.

2. In a car-loader, the combination with a driving shaft, of a main frame pivotally mounted on said shaft to swing in a vertical plane, parallel hollow shafts carried by thev IOO IIO

main frame and geared to said driving-shaft,

ported 0n said main frame, a horizontally-disposed .rotztry distributing devicercarried by seid supplemental frame, a telescopio shaft geared to the driving-shaft and operating the distributing device, and means for swinging the frames from ahoirizontal to a vertical position, substantially as described.

EARL I-LREYNOLDS. Vitnesses:

WM. O. BELT, KATHRYN MCLAREN. 

